Growing Up
by highboys
Summary: They end up married, with two kids.


**Title:** Growing Up  
**Fandom:** Pokemon Special  
**Characters:** Ruby/Sapphire

* * *

i.

* * *

One year later and they were bored out of their minds. It was too hot outside to train, and Sapphire couldn't muster the energy to get up and find the nearest lake for a swim. Even breathing seemed like a chore. Save the world once or twice and there was _nothing_ to do afterwards. Sapphire almost missed it if not for the heat.

Beside her, Ruby continued to mope and whine about how her room needed an air conditioning unit and _god_ how could she live like this, was she even human? The ice in their water had melted ten minutes ago, and the glass felt sweaty, now; she considered throwing it at Ruby's face to see it soak through his hat, just for getting on her nerves.

"I'm not even here most of the time," grumbled Sapphire, the irritation palpable in the tension of the room. She watched his chest rise and fall with a laziness disassociated from the intensity of his frown. "Why'd you have to pick now to visit?"

"I wanted to shove my new medals in your face," said Ruby, dryly, "but now I can't even enjoy your misery without breaking in a sweat. And I think you misplaced your secret base, unless you moved without telling me. Again."

She remembered the wallpaper he'd installed in the last one. She really wanted to kick him. "Why don't _you_ get a secret base, then?"

"Too much effort," said Ruby. "Besides, I could spend my sweet time winning contests than lamenting your poor designing skills."

He stretched in place, looking pleased with himself. His socked feet touched her toes, playfully. Sapphire's mouth felt dry and uncomfortable at the contact, but she didn't shy away.

"Hey," she said, feeling brave.

"Hey, you," he said, shutting his eyes and smiling. She blushed, despite herself, and her mouth ached to return the smile.

"In five minutes," said Sapphire, "I will either punch you in the face or kiss you to shut you up."

"You're bluffing," said Ruby, sounding indignant but still intrigued. Sapphire shifted closer, looping her ankles round his leg. The cloth rustled, against her skin.

"I may have a few ideas," said Sapphire, and Ruby swallowed.

* * *

ii.

* * *

The wedding dress was _ruined_.

Or so Ruby claimed, when he all but barged in the fitting room under the guise of ascertaining that the dress maker wasn't a complete and utter idiot with zero fashion sense. Crystal made a strangled, horrified noise and Blue checked her nails, indifferent at his presence but muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "right on time, bridezilla."

"What are you doing," demanded Ruby, crossing his arms. Sapphire daintily devoured the rest of the éclair from yesterday's food tasting session and motioned the uncertain Yellow to zip up the dress.

"Hi there," said Sapphire, too tired to be cross. "Could you shut the door behind you? I think your mother can see my bra."

Ruby's cheeks reddened as Blue made mildly suggestive cat calls, but he nudged the door with his foot. "You're eating pastries. Why are you eating pastries?"

"I'll go get a clean duster," said Crystal, making a move to duck to the bathroom.

"It's bad luck," squeaked Yellow, nervously, but Blue covered her mouth, clearly enjoying the show.

"She'll get mad too, definitely," whispered Blue. "Now shut up and let me watch this train wreck."

"Come _on_," hissed Crystal, and they exited, stage right. Sapphire didn't notice.

"I was hungry," said Sapphire, defensively. She smoothed down the wrinkles on the front of her dress. When she pulled her hand back, she found bread crumbs. She rolled her eyes. "Relax, princess, I'll ask someone to dry clean this if you're so worried."

"The gloves," said Ruby, taking a few steps forward to pluck at the fabric at her hands, "are unfit even for a dress rehearsal, and I cannot believe you agreed to wear this - this -"

His face was stupid and his mouth was stupid, too, and she really wanted to rub her forehead just to stall the incoming headache. "I get it," said Sapphire, "it's ugly, I'm ugly, and now you'll never marry me, so can you please leave me alone?"

"I never said you weren't beautiful," said Ruby, scowling, and Sapphire grabbed at the front of his shirt to yank him forward. His mouth tasted like the breath mints Gold liked to carry around; she hoped the custard from her pastry didn't turn him off so much. Ruby's fingers fluttered around her waist, and tightened, to steel himself.

"I'll see you later," said Sapphire, and pushed him out of the door, into the darkened hallway.

* * *

iii.

* * *

Sapphire woke up fifteen minutes into REM mode to the fire alarm going off. She tripped over a wayward azumarill doll in the living room (she really had to talk to Garnet about that) and grabbed a cooking mitt from the kitchen counter, turning the gas knob off and lifting the pot cover with her gloved hand. In her haste, the contents jostled dangerously to the side and the soup bubbled; it popped and scalded her arm.

"Mama," warbled Garnet, in time with the beginning of a string of well-disguised profanities, "mama, mama, mama!"

Popo whined, nuzzling her arm; she cradled her wrist as Nana, roused from her sleep, licked at the bruise. Wryly, Sapphire wondered if Ruby would throw a fit at the implications Nana's concern would have on her hygiene, but it was possible he'd be more worried about Nana's breath than anything else.

"Thanks," said Sapphire, soothingly, as Nana shifted her attention to Garnet, who was now banging on the nearest surface available. Sapphire passed him on her way to the medicine cabinet, and she hesitated at his scrunched up face, the trembling of his lip.

"Mama," mumbled Garnet, "out!"

She touched his cheek, rubbing at his tears with her thumb. Her skin shone under the light, water and oil. "I'm sorry, darling," said Sapphire, "the last time I let you out with Nana, I couldn't get mud out of Nana's fur."

"Want out," said Garnet, and Nana made small, whining noises. Popo watched on, curious. Sapphire hefted Garnet up, propping him against her hip.

"Later," promised Sapphire, "when papa comes home."

He inclined his head to her, interest spurred. "Want papa," Garnet mouthed into the cotton of her shirt. Nana followed behind them as they climbed the stairs and walked into the bathroom.

She let Garnet play with Nana's tail but kept an eye trained on both of them just in case. The burn was still red but the water numbed the pain, and now it was only a faint throb, like an errant pulse.

There was a time when she'd suffered worse battles with fire, when she was younger and Toro's Blast Burn didn't leave visible marks. She wondered if motherhood inevitably led to frailty, or if it was an abnormal amount spent outdoors that made her resilient. She'd have to yell at Ruby for the domestic lifestyle. It made her tame and bone-tired.

She could feel the fatigue under her skin, in each crack of her knuckles, or the flex of a ligament. When she carried Garnet, she felt winded and prayed he'd be able to walk soon, but not too soon that he would go places she couldn't follow. Was wanderlust a hereditary trait? Her fingers flexed as Garnet scraped his nails against Nana's fur, gentle even when he didn't mean to be. Sometimes she forgot he was still partly her, when he'd gotten Ruby's traits - the baby fat swelling with the faint sign of high cheek bones, the sharper corners of his eyes. His insistent grip on brightly colored cloth. The masterpieces he'd left on the living room walls with a marker. Her lips twitched, into a smile.

"Come on, darling," said Sapphire, "let's go wait for your papa downstairs."

* * *

iv.

* * *

When Garnet slammed the latest newspaper on their kitchen table and demanded that they hunt their youngest child down, _for everyone's sake, please_, Ruby merely continued to clip Coco's nails before saying, "Conquering the gyms, huh? That's nice."

Coco purred in agreement. Garnet bristled. "Dad, are you insane?"

"Your father is crazy but I love him very much," said Sapphire, bopping the back of Garnet's head as she passed him. "Just like I love you."

Garnet scowled. Oh dear. She remembered he'd had a phase when he absolutely hated it when she was being affectionate. She hoped phases didn't have repeats. "Did you even notice he was gone, along with two of your pokemon, by the way?"

Sapphire paused in her task of wiping down the counter with a wet cloth, listening to Ruby's enlightened "so that's where Zuzu went!" Really, she wanted to hit him, sometimes. "No," she admitted, "not really. He must have left a note, though?"

"He did. And it's not as bad as the last time you snuck a salamence into your room and our house was on the seven o'clock news," winced Ruby, adjusting his glasses. "At least _he_ left a message. I don't think we've changed the wallpaper for that tiny incident yet, have we?"

"I forget," said Sapphire. "You could check, later."

"Dad," said Garnet, long-suffering, "I don't think you get it."

"He never will," agreed Sapphire. "You remember he ran away from home too."

"Pot, meet kettle," said Ruby, but his mouth was trembling with the beginning of a smile. She wanted to wipe it off with her lips, wanted to hear him grumble even as he returned the kiss, so she did. Garnet looked on, appalled.

"The point is," said Garnet, valiantly clearing his throat when Sapphire pulled away, her crow's feet showing with the way her eyes lit up, "I am extremely disappointed that you two are condoning your youngest son's reckless behavior, not to mention disturbed that you can't wait until I've left for grandpa's before you start making kissy faces at each other."

Sapphire considered Garnet - the tension in his shoulders, how his eyes narrowed in exasperation. She couldn't reach his neck to tickle his nape now, nor could she embrace him without having to tiptoe. She wondered if this seriousness came from hanging out with his grandfather, or if she had never noticed it when he was growing up. And now her other child had left her, too.

"You can hit him when he gets back," she promised. What kind of mother would say such a thing, she wondered, but even now, it was just the way she handled her children. "Or you can follow him."

"That's unfair," said Garnet, but he was smiling, now, too. "You two always leave the dirty work to me."

After Garnet left and the table had been cleared, Ruby touched the small of her back, assuring. "It's alright to worry," said Ruby, rubbing at the tautness of her muscles, watching it contract and relax, moments later.

"I'm not worried," said Sapphire. Years and years ago she might have sounded testy, but now there was only resignation. "I just wish they stopped to give us a call."

"We didn't, either," said Ruby, chuckling, "but we turned out just fine, didn't we?"

The fan hummed, in the quiet. Ruby's mouth was warm and his hands weren't as smooth, now, but he still made her feel like a young girl, all the same.

"Yeah," said Sapphire, "I think we did."


End file.
